JPS597689A - Controller for overhead travelling crane - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an overhead crane control device for remotely controlling an overhead crane.

Overhead cranes are used to transport goods within factories, and automatic lane control is an important issue for improving production efficiency in factories and saving labor for overhead crane operators. ing. In order to achieve automatic control of an overhead crane, it is necessary to give control commands to power devices such as traveling, traversing, and hoisting motors, and a control panel provided on the crane. The device numbers that generate such control commands are not only complex in their configuration, but also frequently start and stop, which generates electrical noise each time, and there is a risk that malfunctions may occur due to this noise. This makes it difficult to mount it on an overhead crane. Therefore, a command generation device with a judgment function is generally installed in a location isolated from the overhead crane on the ground.

Therefore, a communication means is required to exchange signals between the equipment on the overhead crane side and the ground-side control device. As a conventional communication means for an overhead crane, for example, a power line carrier communication method or a wireless communication method can be specifically mentioned.

An example of the power line carrier communication system is shown in a perspective view of an overhead crane section in FIG. 1 and a control block diagram in FIG. 2. The ceiling 1 crane 1 runs on a crane rail 2 in which two rails are arranged in parallel.

A trolley power supply bus 3 is arranged parallel to the crane rail 2 to supply power to each device on the crane. Power is supplied to the trolley power supply bus 3 by a motive power supply 5, and the number of lines of the bus is equal to the number of phases of the power supply. The trolley power supply bus 3 is also used as a communication line, and a control signal (command signal) output from a control device 100 installed on the ground is modulated by a modulator/demodulator 7 and sent to the bus. On the other hand, the overhead crane 1 includes a trolley contact 4 that slides into contact with the trolley power supply bus 3, and receives power collected by the contact 4 to drive a motor etc.
It modulates and outputs a signal to be transmitted to the control device 100 to the trolley power unit 6 and the trolley contactor 4, and also modulates the modulated signal from the modulator/demodulator 7 for the nth cycle! 11/ A demodulator 9 and an operating desk 8 which can be manually operated by a crane operator as necessary are installed.

In such a configuration, 100 K is applied by the modulator/demodulator 7 to a power line with a frequency of 50H2 to 60Hz.
A command from the control device 100 is obtained by demodulating a weak signal of H2 to 200 KHz by the modulator/demodulator 9 on the 1/- side of this modulated signal. .

Further, to illustrate an example of the wireless communication system, FIG. 3 is a front view of the Otsuki crane section, and FIG. 4 is a control block. Transmitter/receivers 20 and 21 with M9 guided radio or laser light are installed above the ceiling 1 and on the ground, and the two are connected by radio waves or laser light to exchange information. Transmitter/receiver 20 includes converter 11/demodulator 22
is connected, and the power plant 6 is controlled by the demodulated signal. Further, commands from the operating desk 8 are modulated by the modulator/demodulator 22 and sent to the transmitter/receiver 20. On the other hand, a modulator/demodulator 23 is connected to the transmitter/receiver 20, and the control device 10
In addition to modulating and outputting the command from 0, the transmitter/receiver 21
The received signal 4 is demodulated and sent to the control device 100.

The information transmission speed that can be transmitted in each of the above methods is about 50 bits/see in the power line carrier communication method, and 5 Kbits/sec in the wireless communication method.
digital signal transmission is possible.

By the way, when considering full automation of overhead cranes, it is necessary to install an image receiving device on the crane and monitor it! There is, therefore,
It is necessary to transmit an image transmission signal from an industrial television camera or the like installed on the crane to the control device 100 on the ground. When transmitting image signals, because the band of the image signal is wide, it is necessary to transmit analog signals using a frequency transmission band of about several MHz with a center frequency of about 10 MHz (
Ru.

However, with the conventional methods described above, it is impossible to transmit high-frequency, wide-band signals, and it is not possible to transmit both a digital signal for control and an analog signal for image transmission.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a five-to-five overhead crane control system that communicates both control signals and other information signals between the overhead crane and a ground-side control system.

The present invention uses optical fiber as the signal transmission means to transmit large amounts of data through optical communication.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the signal transmission section according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, a light emitter/receiver 31a connected to an optical fiber cable 30a is fixedly installed at the end of the crane 1. 31b will be installed in the city on the crane rail side to enable transmission of optical signals. An optical fiber (cable 30b) is connected to the light emitter/receiver 31b and guided to ground-side equipment.The device for transmitting and receiving optical signals to the optical fibers 30a and 30b is constructed as shown in FIG. be done.

In FIG. 6, the overhead crane side includes an optical/electrical converter 32 that is connected to a 30 m optical fiber cable and converts an optical signal to an electrical signal, and a signal that demodulates the signal from the converter 32 or transmits the signal to the converter 32. A modulator/demodulator 33 that sends out a modulated signal, and a power device 6 connected to the modulator/demodulator 33
, an operating desk 8, and an industrial television camera (ITV) 34, and the ground side is connected to an optical fiber cable 30b to convert optical signals and electrical signals.
an electrical converter 35; a modulator/demodulator 36 that demodulates the signal from the converter 35 or sends a modulated signal to the converter 32;
The control device 100 is connected to a modulator/demodulator 36 and sends commands and inputs information to the circuit.

Furthermore, an example of the configuration of the light projector/receiver 311.31b is shown in FIG. On the front surface of the optical fiber core wire 40 protruding into the light emitter/receiver, there is a lens 41 that focuses the light 1 and diffuses the light in the optical axis direction, and the surface of the lens 41 is free from dust and dirt in the factory. It is composed of an air purge passage 42 that blows air out to the front surface of the lens to prevent the lens from collapsing, and an air purge pipe 43 that is connected to the passage and supplies air from an air supply source.

With this configuration, during transmission, the light from the optical fiber cable is diffused and emitted by the lens 41, and during reception, the light from the other party's emitter/receiver is focused by the lens 41, and the optical fiber cable ( It is guided to the core wire 40 and transmits and receives optical signals.''The lens 41 is also air purged as necessary.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 6, the operation thereof will be explained. A command from the control device 100 is modulated by the modulator/demodulator 36, and then converted into an optical signal by the optical/electrical converter 35. This optical signal is transmitted to the emitter/receiver 31b by the optical fiber cable 30b, and then transmitted to the emitter/receiver 31m on the crane side via space. The light emitted from the emitter/receiver 311 is transmitted to the optical/electrical converter 32 via the optical fiber cable 30a and converted into an electrical signal. This electrical signal is demodulated by a modulator/demodulator 33 into itl
Control of the power unit 6 is executed according to the content.

On the other hand, the signal from the ITV 34 or the operation desk 8 is modulated by the modulator/demodulator 33, further converted into an optical signal by the optical/electrical converter 32, and then transmitted to the optical fiber cable 30a. The light is projected as light from the light receiver 31m toward the light projector/light receiver 31b. Light emitter/receiver 3
1bt'! The received light beams are transmitted to the optical/air converter 35 via the optical fiber cable 30b, the converted electrical signals are demodulated by the modulator/demodulator 36, and the image signals are sent to the television monitor 37 and transmitted from the operation desk 8. Signal & 1 control device 10
Send to 0. In this way, multiple types of signals can be simultaneously transmitted by optical transmission without receiving any disturbance.

An example of a specific emitter/receiver arrangement is shown in Figure 8 (,
), (b), and FIG. 8(a) shows a plan view, and FIG. 8(b) shows a side view. Emitter/receiver 3
A plurality of 1b are arranged at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the crane rail. The object to be transported 101 is placed on a table 102, and a transport vehicle 103 is installed at a distance of 102 from the object 101. The object 101 to be transported is transported from the platform 102 to the truck 103, or vice versa, by the overhead crane 1 from the truck 103 to the platform 102. The light emitter/receiver 31b is arranged so as to be located above the installation position of the stand 102 and the trolley 103. With such a configuration, the crane can hold objects to be transported, control the transport, etc.7. C') can be done. When the crane 1 leaves the installation position of the light emitter/receiver 31b,
Although optical communication cannot be performed, there is no problem since monitoring by ITV is required during cargo handling operations of the transported object 101. The intermediate point position 104 is effective for tracking the position of the ceiling 1 node 1 by a controller on the ground.

If the load increases or decreases rapidly and there is a problem with stopping accuracy, increase the margin by increasing the number of emitters/receivers on the crane girder as shown in Figure 9, or place them just before the stop position. A dedicated emitter/receiver 310 for slowdown can be installed to improve accuracy.

As is clear from the above (according to the present invention, a large amount of control signals, video signals, etc. can be sent and received between the overhead crane and the ground, making it possible to automate the overhead crane.Furthermore, the operation can be monitored by ITV on the ground side). Since the optical communication means is used, there is no possibility of receiving electrical noise (and there is no risk of transmission errors, etc.).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the ceiling 1]- section to which the conventional power line carrier communication method is applied, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the control device applied to the method of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is the conventional power line carrier communication method. 4 is a block diagram of a control device applied to the method of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a signal transmission section according to the present invention; Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the emitter/receiver section according to the present invention, Fig. 8 (!1), (b) arrangement of the emitter/receiver A plan view and a side view showing an example, Fig. 9 is a projection/
FIG. 1 is a side view showing another example of the arrangement of light receivers. ■...ceiling 1 noon, 2...crane rail, 6...
...Rin 1/- power unit, 8...Operation desk, 30a, 3
0b... optical fiber cable, 31a, 31. b...
Emitter/receiver, 32.35... Optical/electrical converter, 33
．． 36...Modulation 7 adjustment device, 34...Industrial TV camera (ITV), 37...TV monitor, 100...
·Control device. Agent Tatsuyuki Unuma (2 people, ζ and Yuka) Figure 1 Figure 2 00 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 7 Figure 2 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A power unit that is installed on an overhead crane that runs on crane tracks and executes traveling, traversing, hoisting, lowering, etc., and a power unit that sends control commands to the power unit and inputs information from the power unit and performs the operations. In an overhead crane system equipped with a control unit installed on the ground side, the rail side of the crane and the crane have a light emitting function and a light receiving function capable of optical communication. The light emitter/receiver is connected to the light emitter/receiver provided in the vicinity of the rail (at least one light emitter/receiver and the clay) through an optical fiber, and converts optical signals and electrical signals. a first optical/electrical converter for converting optical signals and electrical signals; and a second optical/electrical converter for converting optical signals and electrical signals.
and demodulates electrical signals from the first optical/electrical converter and outputs them to the power unit, and modulates information signals from various devices mounted on the crane to modulate the electrical signals from the first optical/electrical converter. a first modulator/demodulator that modulates the control command and outputs it to the second optical/electrical converter, and a second modulator that modulates the electrical signal from the second optical/electrical converter; A control device for an overhead crane characterized by being equipped with an optical/electrical converter.